(Ad - Gifted)
I have been under a lot of stress recently, which has lead to me not sleeping great, being over tired, and struggling with anxiety.
So you may recall that at the start of January I decided to start working on practicing Mindfulness.
During this time I was offered to try a blanket from Gravity Blankets, its a special weighted blanket which is used to help aid sleep, anxiety and stress, and so it sounded perfect for me.
I had heard of these before and always wanted to try one. I have always loved the feeling of lots of comfort at night and often snuggle up under a huge blanket or duvet for that comfort. So I had a feeling I really would get along great with a weighted blanket.
Of corse buying a weighted blanket isn't as simple as just buying one off the shelf, these blankets are made especially with you in mind and it all depends on what you weight to the recommended weight of the blanket. The blanket is meant to be around 10% of the users weight and so you can get blankets that are from 4KG to 12Kg.
I weigh a very small 47Kgs and so I was sent a weighted blanket that weighed 4KG.
Your weighted blanket comes in a plastic carry case, and straight away I could feel the difference in weight. To me it felt as heavy as a duvet but just not as big as one. It also came with a little introduction guide which tells you more about your blanket.
So, as you heard me say above, when bundled together it felt about the weight of a duvet, so I am now hearing you ask "well whats the difference"? but there is a huge difference. The weighted blanket isn't just heavy, It is made in a special way so that the weight is evenly spread around the blanket and there fore around your body. It is designed to hit points on your body that are connected to the nervous system to help relax you. It also is meant to give you a feeling of being cuddled, which a duvet wouldn't do.
I have been testing this for weeks now, and further down I am going to tell you wether the above is true or not.
But first I need to talk about how soft this blanket is. It is so smooth and silky and both sides of the blanket feel lovely to touch and to have against your skin. The blanket isn't fluffy it is more velvety and I think it looks really nice and cosy. I love that the colour of it is grey as grey matches so many colours and so it won't look out of place on your bed or on your sofa.
The blanket really isn't that thick, I think when you think weighted blanket you do think it probably would be, but it's really not. I did think this may be a problem for me for bedtime, as I do like to cuddle up to my duvet.
As for the size, its quite big and about the size of a single bed. You can fully wrap yourself up in it for when relaxing and also it is perfect for sleeping with. It is a great size for if you are wanting it for yourself, but if you are in the mood for sharing, then length ways it fits fully across a king sized bed and comes a decent way down the bed too.
I most of the time sleep alone in my king sized bed, so I used mine like I had a single bed but below is an example of the size of it.
So I have tested it a few ways.
First of all I used it for sleeping. They recommend you get used to it first by having 15 min with it through out the day and then try it for a night. But I jumped straight into using it as I knew I would love the feeling of it. I have always been comforted by the feeling of a cat or dog laying on my legs in the night and so I kind of compared it to my love of that. I was right and straight away felt used to my blanket.
It really does give you that being cuddled feeling and it feels compleatly different to having a duvet placed over you. I have a thick duvet but the duvet feels really light and airy compared to this.
I 100% can say I LOVE MY BLANKET! I just love getting into bed with it at night time and the instant feeling of the covers hitting your body is amazing and really gives me that instant relaxed feeling. I always get into my bed and feel super comfortable. I did try sleeping with it in a few ways. I knew that it would be to thin cuddly wise for me and the night I slept with out my duvet, I missed hugging up to it. So the next night I tried it on top of my duvet and then also under my duvet. I was told by gravity blankets that you can use the blanket either way, as it would still do the job it was intended for.
Out of the ways I tried it, I have settled on using it under my duvet. I find this is the nicest way for me to sleep. I thought doing this I may get too hot, but I don't, and heat wise it feels the exact same heat as when I was only using a duvet.
The blanket doesn't just have to be used for sleep though. It can also be used during the day and for relaxing and so I have also used it a few times for snuggling on the couch watching a film, and also to ease those nights that I was feeling a little anxious. I think the only reason I haven't used it more for relaxing on the couch is because the weight of it makes it a faff to have to carry up and down stairs. I actually love my blanket so much that I would totally concider one for upstairs ready on my bed and one for relaxing downstairs.
So, the next question is did it help with my sleep, anxiety and stress?
My answer would be Yes and No.
The blanket hasn't fully got rid of my anxiety, and I unfortunetly still managed one night to have a panic attack even though I had my blanket wrapped around me. But, I do believe that most nights its helped create less of an anxious feeling as when I get into bed, I am more focused on the amazing feeling of the blanket than I am the feeling of anxiety and so in that way yes it has helped.
As for sleep, I do believe this has partially helped my sleep. I notice I fall asleep a lot faster, I used to toss and turn before sleep and since I have been using the blanket, I have maybe only had 1 or 2 nights where I have done this. Plus I used to wake up when I rolled over in the night but I don't think I am rolling over as much anymore as I used to. I often wake up in the same position I fell asleep in.
I would say that although I am still tired a lot (blaming stress and being a mum) and I also have weird dreams that awaken me often, my gravity blanket has definetly helped my sleep.
A gravity Blanket is quite pricy and is currently on sale for £149 but now that I have tried one, I would totally spend my money on it. As it is a lot to spend, they offer a 28 day trial that says if it doesn't work for you, then they will send you your money back. Lets just say I have been trying mine for over 28 days and I wouldn't be asking for my money back.
The cover and the insert can also be washed in a washing machine which means that you can keep your blanket nice and fresh.
So if you are interested in getting yourself a blanket, or would like to read more information about one then please head to the Gravity Blanket Website.
Do you think you would enjoy a Gravity Blanket?